Washington's Guns of April
By: David Rogers
April 6, 2011 08:14 PM EST

With Washington stumbling toward a government shutdown, House Speaker John Boehner and President Barack Obama met late into the night Wednesday to narrow their differences even as Republicans sought political cover behind a short-term “troop funding” bill that the White House has asked the GOP not to pursue.

“I remain confident that if we are serious about getting something done, we should be able to complete a deal to avert a government shutdown,” Obama said appearing in the White House press room near 10:45 p.m. ET “It would be inexcusable ... that we can’t get this done.”

Also participating in the more than 80-minute long Oval Office session were Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Vice President Joe Biden. But the president and speaker were the two central figures, and from the looks on their faces — and frequent use of “frank” and “honest” in describing the talks — it had been more than a casual airing of differences.

Boehner would later appear with Reid, each briefly describing the session as “productive” while committing their staffs to work through the night to try to clear the way for a deal. But the speaker again sidestepped any commitment to a precise spending target and was more cautious about promising a deal can be reached.

“There’s no agreement on a number and there’s no agreement on the policy,” Boehner said. “But there’s an intent to try to resolve this.”

Just hours before, Boehner had more bluntly taken a shot at Obama’s own leadership in addressing the crisis — angering Democrats and helping to prompt the call by Obama summoning the speaker and Reid to the White House.

“I like the president personally. We get along well,” Boehner had told reporters following an afternoon meeting of the Republican Conference. “But the president, he didn’t lead on last year’s budget. And clearly, he’s not leading on this year’s budget.”

The speaker’s comments came on top of a shot by Republican Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling that infuriated Democrats by suggesting Obama is more concerned about his reelection campaign budget than the crisis. In fact, persons in both parties said the White House had only stayed removed from the talks Wednesday because of the urging of Boehner’s office—together with Reid’s. And Obama had offered to cancel a trip Wednesday to Pennsylvania, if needed.

The combination of acrimony and distrust — even as all sides move toward a precipice — could be dubbed Washington’s “Guns of April.” All three principals — Obama, Boehner and Reid — have been hurt politically by their own hesitance and weakness, but they have arrived at a point where they must find a way to come together or risk the embarrassment of a shutdown at a time when American troops are in combat overseas.

This is a major distinction from the 1995 shutdown engineered by House Republicans in a fight with then-President Bill Clinton. And trying to lessen the blow, House Republicans are rushing to the floor Thursday with a bill to put the Pentagon on permanent footing but demanding $12 billion in new spending cuts to keep the rest of the government open for another week.

“I don’t need one Democrat,” boasted Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, who predicted easy passage. But to get a larger budget deal, Boehner now knows that he must find a way to get Democrats on board — while not fatally fracturing his party.

When the House initiated the budget fight in February, Republicans demanded $61.3 billion in cuts from spending levels coming into this session — or more than $100 billion below Obama’s 2011 request. No House Democrats backed the bill, and in the Democratic-controlled Senate, it was easily defeated along partisan lines.

In talks since, Obama has moved more than halfway to a target of $33 billion in cuts, or about $73 billion from his initial budget. Last week, that target became the framework for talks between the House and Senate Appropriations committees, but at a White House meeting Tuesday, Boehner upped the ante by floating a compromise of $40 billion in cuts, or $80 billion below Obama’s budget request.

In fact, negotiators have continued to stay close to the $33 billion target — which may explain some of Boehner’s frustration. But Democrats said they have offered an additional $1.3 billion in savings in their latest package and could be prepared to go higher, toward $40 billion, depending on the GOP’s willingness to consider cuts not just in appropriations but also in mandatory programs, such as federal benefits or subsidies prescribed by law.

The distinction is important because it affects the discretionary spending baseline for the 2012 budget debate that opened this week. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is already seeking an additional $100 billion cut from Obama’s 2012 budget, and driving down the baseline for 2011 is important to meeting that goal.

Thus Republicans are taking a tack opposite from that of Democrats: Instead of cutting mandatory spending, they would cut discretionary spending and use the mandatory funds to backfill the hole they created.

For example, $1.75 billion mandated by health care reform would be used to offset equal cuts from community health centers and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The same is the case with black and Hispanic colleges, for which GOP cuts perfectly match mandated aid approved last year when Democrats controlled Congress.

But having rushed into this fight so early after taking power, Republicans are now in a box canyon from which it’s hard to pivot and deal with bigger parts of their agenda, such as the 2012 budget reported out of the House Budget Committee Wednesday night.

Two problems stand out. All budgets are partisan fights, and the new GOP plan — a bold but take-no-prisoners document — will require party discipline just to get through the House next week. Fast behind it in May and June will be the still more difficult fight over expanding Treasury’s borrowing authority to cope with the federal debt.

Thus, the GOP leadership must now put a premium on loyalty to its rank and file, and any compromise — selling out one faction or another — has to be weighed against the fear of breeding distrust among the troops going into the next battle.

The second, more subtle, problem for the GOP is with the construct of the Republican Conference itself. House Democrats have always been more of a coalition of factions, making it easier to break off pieces without losing the whole. But Republicans tend to be more uniform, and once defections begin, experienced floor aides admit the party is harder to control — almost like drywall construction or a spooked cattle herd.

“It’s not ideological so much as there’s an emotional dynamic,” said one leadership aide. “How can this be good if he’s against it?”

This helps explain Boehner’s dilemma, since at this stage, any deal will almost certainly split his caucus. Republicans calculate that having the president’s blessing will bring along Democrats. But they fear that if 50 or 60 of their own members defect, the whole enterprise could collapse.

“It’s not as simple as giving up 50 Republican votes and picking up 30 to 40 Democrats,” said another aide. “Once you get down so many votes, it’s hard to say what the bottom is.”

The speaker is scheduled to appear on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Thursday to try to lay out his case. The interview was filmed prior to Wednesday’s return to the White House.